Maintaining Health (Formerly Health and Efficiency) Part 11

Some spoil the most delicious watermelon by heaping sugar or salt, or both, upon it. In this way the flavor is lost. There is not a raw fruit on the market which is as finely flavored after it has been sugared as it was before. True, those who have ruined their sense of taste object to the tartness and natural acidity of various foods, but they are not judges and can not be until they have regained a normal taste, which can only be done by living on natural foods for a while.

Fats are obtained most plentifully from nuts, legumes, dairy products and animal foods. They are the most concentrated of all foods, yielding over twice the amount of heat or energy that we can obtain from the same weight of pure sugar, starch or protein. Many who think they are moderate eaters consume enough b.u.t.ter to put them in the glutton cla.s.s.

Salts are present in all natural foods of which we partake.

Water is indispensable, for the body has to have fluids in order to perform its functions.

Foods are burned in the body. They are valuable in proportion to the completeness with which they are digested and a.s.similated and the ease with which this process is accomplished. It takes energy to digest food and if the food is very indigestible it takes too much energy.

The following remarks on digestibility are according to the best knowledge we have on the subject:

As a general rule, the protein of meat and fish is more completely and more quickly digested than the protein in vegetable foods. The reason is that the vegetable protein is found in cells which are protected by the indigestible cellulose which covers each cell. This covering is not always broken and then the digestive juices are practically powerless.

The legumes, which are rich in protein, are comparatively hard to digest. If properly prepared and eaten, they give little or no trouble, but they are generally cooked soft and the mastication is slighted. The result is fermentation. Beans, peas and lentils should be very well chewed, and eaten in moderation, for they are rich both in starch and protein.

Nuts are as a rule not as completely digested as meats and animal fats, and the princ.i.p.al reason is that they are eaten too rapidly and masticated too little. Nuts properly masticated, taken in correct combinations and amounts agree very well. It is not necessary, as many believe, to salt them in order to prevent indigestion.

In the following pages will be found a number of diet tables, giving compositions and fuel values of various foods which have been grouped for the sake of convenience, for the foods in each group are quite similar. These tables are not complete, for to list every food would take too much s.p.a.ce. I have simply selected a representative list from the various cla.s.ses of foods. Under flesh are given fish, meats and eggs. Under succulent vegetables are given both root and top vegetables, because of their similarity. Nuts, cereals, legumes, tubers and fruits are each grouped because it is easy to gain an understanding of them in this way. Milk is given a rather long chapter of its own because of its great importance in the morning of life.

Allow me to repeat that it is impossible to figure out the calories in a given amount of food and then give enough food to furnish so many calories and thus obtain good results. I have already given the key to the amount of food to eat, and it is the only kind of key that works well. However, it is very helpful to have a knowledge of food values.

The calorie is the unit of heat, and heat is convertible into energy. A calorie is the heat required to raise the temperature of one kilogram of water one degree C. To translate into common terms, it is the heat required to raise one pound of water four degrees F.

One pound of protein produces 1,860 calories.

One pound of sugar produces 1,860 calories.

One pound of starch produces 1,860 calories.

One pound of oil or fat produces 4,220 calories.

For the scientific facts regarding foods I have consulted various works, especially the following: Diet and Dietetics, by Gauthier; Foods, by Tibbles; Food Inspection and a.n.a.lyses, by Leach; Foods and their Adulteration, by Wiley; Commercial Organic a.n.a.lysis, by Allan. However, I am most indebted to the numerous bulletins issued by the U. S.

Department of Agriculture. All who make a study of foods and their value owe a great debt to W. O. At.w.a.ter and Chas. D. Wood, who have worked so long and faithfully to increase our knowledge regarding foods.

As we consider the various groups of foods, directions are given for the best way of cooking, but no fancy cooking is considered. Those who wish fancy, indigestible dishes should consult the popular cook books.

The women have it in their power to raise the health standard fifty to one hundred per cent by cooking for health instead of catering to spoiled palates, and by learning to combine foods more sensibly than they have in the past. The art of cooking has made its appeal almost entirely to the palate. This art is not on as high level as the science of cooking, which gives foods that build healthy bodies. The right way of cooking is simpler, quicker and easier than the conventional method, and gives food that is superior in flavor. After the normal taste has been ruined, it takes a few months to acquire a natural taste again so that good foods will be enjoyed.

CHAPTER X.

FLESH FOODS.

==================================================================== Pro- Carbohy- Calories Water tein Fat drates Ash per lb.

-------------------------------------------------------------------- Beef, average 72.03 21.42 5.41 .... 1.14 ....

Veal, lean 78.84 19.86 .82 .... .50 ....

Mutton, average 75.99 17.11 5.77 .... 1.33 ....

Pork, average fat 47.40 14.54 37.34 .... .72 ....

Pork, average lean 72.57 20.25 6.81 .... 1.10 ....

Rabbit 66.80 22.22 9.76 .... 1.17 ....

Chicken, fat 70.06 19.59 9.34 .... .91 ....

Turkey 65.60 24.70 8.50 .... 1.20 ....

Goose 38.02 15.91 45.59 .... .49 ....

Pigeon 75.10 22.90 1.00 .... 1.00 ....

Duck, wild 69.89 25.49 3.69 .... .93 ....

Black ba.s.s 76.7 20.4 1.7 .... 1.2 450 Sea ba.s.s 79.3 18.8 .5 .... 1.4 370 Cod, steaks 82.5 16.3 .3 .... .9 315 Halibut, steaks 75.4 18.3 5.2 .... 1.1 560 Herring 74.67 14.55 9.03 .... 1.78 ....

Mackerel 73.4 18.2 7.1 .... 1.3 640 Perch, white 75.7 19.1 4.0 .... 1.2 525 Pickerel 79.8 18.6 .5 .... 1.1 365 Salmon 71.4 19.9 7.4 .... 1.3 680 Salmon trout 69.1 18.2 11.4 .... 1.3 820 Shad 70.6 18.6 9.5 .... 1.3 745 Sturgeon 78.7 18.0 1.9 .... 1.4 415 Trout, brook 77.8 18.9 2.1 .... 1.2 440 Clams, long 85.8 8.6 1.0 2.00 2.6 240 Clams, round 86.2 6.5 .4 4.20 2.7 215 Lobster 79.2 16.4 1.8 .40 2.2 390 Oyster in sh.e.l.l 86.9 6.2 1.2 3.70 2.0 230 --------------------------------------------------------------------

The food value of meat depends on the amount of fat and protein it contains. Lean meat may contain less than four hundred calories per pound, while very fat meat may contain more than one thousand five hundred calories.

These foods are eaten because they are rich in protein. Protein is the great builder and repairer of the body. It forms the framework for both bone and muscle. We can get along very well without starch or sugar or fat, but it is absolutely necessary to have proteid foods. They are the only ones that contain nitrogen, which is essential to animal life.

Nitrogenous foods are used not only to build and repair, but in the end they are burned, supplying as much heat as the same weight of sugar or starch.

Proteid foods are generally taken to excess. To most people they are very palatable, and they are generally prepared in a manner that renders rapid eating easy. Besides, meats contain flavoring and stimulating principles, called extractives, which increase the desire for them. The consequence is that those who eat meat often have a tendency to eat too much. Excessive meat eating often leads to consumption of large quant.i.ties of liquor. Stimulants crave company.

As will be noted, most fish and meat contain about 20 per cent. of protein, while about 75 per cent. is water. The fatter the meat, the less water it contains, and the more fuel value it has. The leaner the meat, the more watery the animal, and the more easily is the flesh digested. Beef is fatter than veal and harder to digest. Also, the flesh of old animals is more highly flavored than that of the young ones, because it contains more salts. For this reason people who have a tendency to the formation of foreign deposits, as is the case with those who have rheumatism and gout or hardening of the arteries, should take the flesh of young animals when it is obtainable.

In the past we have been taught to partake of excessive amounts of protein. The prescribed amount for the average adult has been about five ounces. If we were to obtain all the protein from meat, this would necessitate eating about twenty-five ounces of meat daily. However, inasmuch as there is considerable protein in the cereals and milk, and a little in most fruits and vegetables, a pound of meat would probably suffice under the old plan. A few physicians have known that such an intake of protein is excessive, and now the physiologists are learning the same. It has lately been determined experimentally that the body needs only about an ounce of protein daily, which will be supplied by about five ounces of flesh. Three or four ounces of flesh daily make a liberal allowance, for it is supplemented by protein in other foods.

Workers eat large quant.i.ties of flesh because they think they need a great deal. The fact is that very little more protein is needed by those who do hard physical labor than by brain workers. The extra energy needed calls for more carbohydrates, not for protein.

When the organism is supplied with sugar, starch and fat, or one of these, the protein of the body is saved, only a very small amount being used to replace the waste through wear and tear. Though protein can be burned in the body, it is not an economical fuel, either from a physiological or financial standpoint. The energy obtained from flesh costs much more than the same amount of energy obtained from carbonaceous foods. Ten acres of ground well cultivated can raise enough cereals and vegetables to support a number of people, but if this amount of land is used for raising animals, it will support but a few. The protein obtained from peas, beans and lentils is cheap, but these foods do not appeal to the popular palate as much as flesh.

Meat immediately after being killed is soft. After a while it goes into a state of rigidity known as rigor mortis. Then it begins to soften again. This third stage is really a form of decay, called ripening. It is believed that the lactic acid formed is one of the princ.i.p.al agents producing this softening. Some people enjoy their meats, especially that of fowls and game, ripe enough to deserve the name of rotten. The ripening produces many chemical changes in the meat, which give the flesh more flavor. Consequently those who indulge are very apt to overeat. It is a fact that those who eat much flesh go into degeneration more quickly than those who are moderate flesh eaters and depend largely on the vegetable kingdom for food.

If an excess of good meat causes degeneration, there is no reason to doubt that partaking of overripe foods is even worse.

All meat contains waste. If the flesh comes from healthy animals and is eaten in moderation this waste is so small that it will cause no inconvenience, for a healthy body is able to take care of it. If too much is eaten, the results are serious. Overeating of flesh is followed by excessive production of urea and uric acid products. Some of these may be deposited in various parts of the body, while the urea is mostly excreted by the kidneys. The kidneys do not thrive under overwork any more than other organs. The vast majority of cases of diabetes and Bright's disease are caused by overworking the digestive organs. Too much food is absorbed into the blood and the excretory organs have to work overtime to get rid of the excess.

Meats are easily spoiled. They should be kept in a cold place and not very long. Fresh meat and fish are more easily digested than those which are salted, or preserved in any other way. Pickled meats should be used rarely The same is true of fish.

Ptomaines, or animal poisons, form easily in flesh foods. These are very dangerous, and it is not safe to eat tainted flesh, even after it is cooked. Fish decomposes quickly and fish poisoning is probably even more severe than meat poisoning. Fish should be killed immediately after it is caught, for experiments have shown that the flesh of fish kept captive after the manner of fishers degenerates very rapidly. Fish should be eaten while fresh. Even when the best precautions have been taken, it is somewhat risky to partake of fish that has been shipped from afar.

Flesh foods are more easily and completely digested than the protein derived from the vegetable kingdom.

From the table it will be noted that some fish is fat and some is lean.

The ones containing more than 5 per cent of fat should be considered fat fish. These are somewhat harder to digest than the lean ones, but they are more nutritious.

Sh.e.l.l fish is generally low in food value and if taken as nourishment is very expensive. However, most people eat this food for its flavor.

COOKING.

Cooking is an art that should be learned according to correct principles. Every physician should be a good cook. He should be able to go into the kitchen and show the housewife how to prepare foods properly. Medical men who are well versed in food preparation and able to make good food prescriptions have no need of drugs.

The flesh of animals is composed of fibres. These fibres are surrounded by connective tissue which is tough. The cooking softens and breaks down these tissues, thus rendering it easier for the digestive juices to penetrate and dissolve them. That is, proper cooking does this. Poor cooking generally renders the meats indigestible.

The simpler the cooking, the more digestible will be the food. Flavors are developed in the process, but these are hidden if the meats are highly seasoned.